Dr. Steinleitner's office is able to set up monthly payments for those who don't have insurance coverage and can't afford upfront costs.

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Age

29 - 30

Treated

2014 - 2015

Success with this Doc

?

Race

European

Income

$50K - $99K

Occupation

—

Order & Number of Docs Seen

2nd of 2 Docs

Treatment

1 IVF, 1 Egg Freezing

Diagnosis

Tubal Blockage

10

During treatment, did you feel like you were treated like a number or a human?

Alex is extremely accommodating. He was willing to travel to the facility of our insurance's choice to get the procedure costs covered by insurance. He takes his time to discuss the situation and creates a customized plan for your care. He was willing to fit us in on weekends and after hours when necessary for our treatment plan. He even gave us his cll phone number for weekend calls due to my cycle.

Describe your experience with the nursing staff.

I was a complete emotional trainwreck when we started our cycle. The nurses showed my husband how to give my shots and make the syringes. However, I wasn't paying attention and when it came time to start our shots, I wasn't comfortable allowing him to give them to me without knowing what he was doing. The nursing staff told us to come on in without an appointment and they would teach us again. When we arrived, I was crying and upset. They were so kind and understanding. They assured me my husband knew what he was doing and they watched him administer my shots. They reminded me he is here to help me and I'm not alone in this process. They told me to let him help me and to trust him with the process. I felt so much better when we left and my husband was very confident in his abilities after our appointment.

How was your experience with Alex Steinleitner?

Alex is a doctor who is quite obviously passionate about his field and practice. He is very thorough with us and answers all of our questions in a respectful and easy to understand manner. He is very accommodating and traveled 4 hours to the clinic of our insurance's choice so our procedure would be covered. He also adjusted our treatment plan as needed when I was developing eggs slower than anticipated. When I had issues obtaining my medications through my insurance on time, he was so sweet and allowed us to get our medications in his office for free, and replace them with the drugs we received from my insurance the following week, so we wouldn't have to move our cycle dates. His prices are average to the industry and we are so happy we chose him to be our RE. I would HIGHLY recommend him to anyone looking for an RE on the central coast or central valley. He has 2 offices. One in Fresno, CA and the other in San Luis Obispo, CA.

What one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Alex Steinleitner?

Don't think you can't get IVF because you can't afford it. While there are some upfront costs, Dr. Steinleitner's office is able to set up monthly payments for those who don't have insurance coverage and can't afford upfront costs.

10

Doctor

Alex Steinleitner

Communication

Trustworthiness

Compassion

Explained risks

Adaptability

Frequency seen during appointments

10

Clinic

Central Coast Fertility

SAN LUIS OBISPO

Nursing

Operations

Scheduling

Billing

Clinic Atmosphere

Educational Resources

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4

Age

31 - 32

Treated

2013 - 2014

Success with this Doc

No

Treatment

6 IUI, Donor Sperm

Diagnosis

Unexplained

4

Strengths: compassionate staff; convenient location; reasonable fees and fee schedule; lots of face time with the Doctor; doctor is very willing to answer questions Weaknesses: overall disorganized; unprofessional staff; lack of attention to detail...We wenf in for an ultrasound one morning and one staff member mistakenly thought we were there for an IUI so she thawed our donor sperm, which had cost like $700 for the vial. Appalled, Dr. Steinleitner immediately offered to replace it and cover the cost but the ordeal left a bad taste in our mouths.

During treatment, did you feel like you were treated like a number or a human?

Dr. Steinleitner was a father himself, so he seemed to care passionately about his work and spoke openly about that fact. He gave hugs and was very kind.

Describe your experience with the nursing staff.

I don't even remember if we had a nurse; the office manager, who was responsible for a lot of the disarray, seemed to take on a lot of "nursing" responsibility.

What specific things went wrong at this clinic?

Lost paperwork

Lost appointments

Failed to call with results

Provided conflicting information

Lost or damaged samples

Scheduled the wrong procedure

How was your experience with Alex Steinleitner?

Dr. Steinleitner was a nice guy, but as a doctor he seemed a little careless. I never felt that he had read my chart before entering the room to see me. He would walk in and say "ok, what are we doing today?" I wiuld answer "today we are doing a baseline ultrasound," or whatever, but in my head I was always thinking "why don't you tell me what the hell we're doing today?" Also, he didn't pay close attention to detail. I did three IUIs with him, and the first two were very painful because he used the wrong size speculum and got flustered that it wasn't working. On the third IUI, I had to remind him beforehand what size speculum to use and what do you know, that one went super smoothly.
But perhaps the biggest issue I had with Steinleitner was that after a poor response from my first IVF cycle, he didn't try a different protocol. He put me on slightly stronger stims, but overall still pretty mild. I ended up having to cancel the second cycle, too, and he recommended we seek a second opinion. After going through an IVF cycle with a new doctor, Steinleitner's lack of attention to detail became even more apparent. The new doctor had me doing blood tests almost daily during the stims, and I didn't do any blood testing during the stim cycles with Steinleitner. Maybe if I had, he would have been able to detect the poor response sooner and course correct. Instead, thousands of dollars of meds went down the drain.
The good thing about Steinleitner is that he was very sympathetic and he seemed to generally care and feel bad that he couldn't get us pregnant. His office has a policy where you pay half of the fee upon start of treatment, and you only pay the other half if you achieve a pregnancy. We didn't even make it to a retrieval so he ended up generously refunding almost our entire payment, save for the costs of ultrasounds. It was astounding, and we were incredibly greatful.

What one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Alex Steinleitner?

Dr. Steinleitner is great if your needs are simple and straightforward. But if your case is a bit more complex, it might behoove you to seek an expert from San Francisco or LA.

Describe the protocols Alex Steinleitner used in your cycles and their degree of success.

I did one natural cycle IUI and two femara IUIs with an ovidrel trigger. In all three cases, I had one dominant follicle.
I also did two IVF cycles with the long lupron protocol, and 10 days of stimming with menopur. The cycles seemed to be going well and I had approximately 12 follicles measuring around 11mm each that were visible on the ultrasound on day 7ish of stimming. But on the day of the final ultrasound (day 11ish), only 2-3 follicles had fully matured, measuring 17-18mm. Both cycles were canceled. I was tested for ovarian reserve after the first cancellation and it was discovered that I actually have very good ovarian reserve, so the doctor was stumped and recommended I get a second opinion.

4

Doctor

Alex Steinleitner

Communication

Trustworthiness

Compassion

Explained risks

Adaptability

Frequency seen during appointments

4

Clinic

Central Coast Fertility

SAN LUIS OBISPO

Nursing

Operations

Scheduling

Billing

Clinic Atmosphere

Educational Resources

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8

Age

38

Treated

2015

Success with this Doc

?

Treatment

3 IUI, 1 IVF

Diagnosis

Male Factor, Unexplained

8

His pricing [at Central Coast Fertility] was very fair and reasonable. Based on our tax return he offered us a discount on his fees...I ended up having a chemical pregnancy. The calls from the person in the office were very vague and disconnected. I took the first blood test on Christmas Eve and received a call stating I was kinda pregnant (I'm paraphrasing). I repeated the test a few days later and received another call indicating my number had dropped to zero. I understand the doctor was very busy but I believe we should have been asked if we wanted to schedule a follow up or if we at least knew how we wanted to proceed...There was no communication from the office after that call. In all honesty I felt like a number at that point but I don't know if that was just standard protocol. If I had not scheduled a follow up and asked specific questions I would not have known that I had a chemical pregnancy.

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Age

38

Treated

2015

Success with this Doc

?

Race

Black or African-American

Income

$100K - $199K

Occupation

Accountant

Order & Number of Docs Seen

2nd of 2 Docs

Treatment

3 IUI, 1 IVF

Diagnosis

Male Factor, Unexplained

8

During treatment, did you feel like you were treated like a number or a human?

I had Dr. S cell phone number. During our appointments we never felt rushed. We were always encouraged to ask questions.

How was your experience with Alex Steinleitner?

I was referred to Dr. S by a friend who is a local OB/GYN and has also experienced infertility firsthand. He had just opened a satellite office in Fresno and it was good to have another option as we had already been to the only other fertility doctor in town. His pricing was very fair and reasonable. Based on our tax return he offered us a discount on his fees. Because we had been dealing with fertility and other health issues for quite some time we were able to convey to Dr. S. that we needed him to be straightforward with us at all times and he respected this wish. His bedside manner is unique. If you want someone to hand hold and comfort you then you'll be disappointed. He did show compassion. There were 1-2 instances where I felt like the communication could have been clearer. For example, at some point we only had 1 viable embryo. I'm not sure when this changed from 2 to 1 but we didn't find out until we were on our way back to the clinic to have the embryo transfer. Unfortunately, I ended up having a chemical pregnancy. The calls from the person in the office were very vague and disconnected. I took the first blood test on Christmas Eve and received a call stating I was kinda pregnant (I'm paraphrasing). I repeated the test a few days later and received another call indicating my number had dropped to zero. I understand the doctor was very busy but I believe we should have been asked if we wanted to schedule a follow up or if we at least knew how we wanted to proceed. There was no communication from the office after that call. In all honesty I felt like a number at that point but I don't know if that was just standard protocol. If I had not scheduled a follow up and asked specific questions I would not have known that I had a chemical pregnancy. If we were to move forward I'd feel comfortable working with Dr. S. again.

What one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Alex Steinleitner?

Hold everyone accountable. If someone says they will call and they don't, call them. Ask questions.

Describe the protocols Alex Steinleitner used in your cycles and their degree of success.

I don't remember the specifics of the protocol that was used. I don't have anything to compare to.

8

Doctor

Alex Steinleitner

Communication

Trustworthiness

Compassion

Explained risks

Adaptability

Frequency seen during appointments

8

Clinic

Central Coast Fertility

SAN LUIS OBISPO

Nursing

Operations

Scheduling

Billing

Clinic Atmosphere

Educational Resources

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10

Age

31

Treated

2016

Success with this Doc

No

Treatment

1 IVF

Diagnosis

Male Factor

10

[Dr Alex Steinleitner] is not a hand holder... He is busy and does not have much time...Strengths: knows his science and does not lack confidence. Weakness:...bedside and communication...
[Nurses] Jayran and Debbie are the best! Erica then new MA is great as well

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Age

31

Treated

2016

Success with this Doc

No

Race

Other

Income

$200K - $499K

Occupation

Nurse or HC Services

Order & Number of Docs Seen

1 Doc Seen

Treatment

1 IVF

Diagnosis

Male Factor

10

Describe your experience with Central Coast Fertility.

Beautiful clinic, staff seems confised

During treatment, did you feel like you were treated like a number or a human?

Dr S is not a hand holder... He is busy and does not have much time

Describe your experience with your nurse.

Jayran and Debbie are the best! Erica then new MA is great as well

What specific things went wrong at this clinic?

Lost paperwork

Failed to call with results

Provided conflicting information

How was your experience with Alex Steinleitner?

Strengths: knows his science and does not lack confidence. Weakness: pot bedside and communication

What one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Alex Steinleitner?

Go in with thick skin

Describe the protocols Alex Steinleitner used in your cycles and their degree of success.